A surprising list charging toward national coach of the year

The conversation for national coach of the year never feels as sexy or provocative as the Wooden Award race most seasons.
This season’s candidate pool features an interesting mix of new faces and established winners. But the front-runner is clear.

This feels like 2016. Jalen Brunson (19.0 PPG, 5.2 APG, 49 percent from beyond the arc) looks like Josh Hart, who is now giving the Los Angeles Lakers quality minutes off the bench. And Omari Spellman, who redshirted last season because of academic issues, is in shape and playing a Draymond Green-like role for a Villanova squad that boasts double-digit wins over Gonzaga (16 points) and Xavier (24 points) and entered the week first in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom.com. We expect Villanova to compete with the best. This year, however, Wright has led his squad to a collection of definitive wins, and Wildcats now look like the team to beat in college basketball.

The Niners might have forced overtime if not for a missed extra point by kicker Robbie Gould. (The longer extra point decides a game!) That forced them into a two-point conversion attempt with just over two minutes left, trailing by two. It failed. The Niners got the ball right back on a successful onside kick. But their last-gasp drive was undone by a questionable 鈥?to put it kindly 鈥?offensive pass interference penalty. (An officiating controversy!)

Bottom line: Drake’s skill set screams change-of-pace pass-catching back but Joe Flacco Youth jersey what if he’s more than that? I wouldn’t burn a waiver priority on Drake but if he ends up unclaimed, add him as a free agent and see if he pans out in two or three weeks.

Fantasy spin: Stewart was dealing with an ankle injury all week and it’s entirely possible the hamstring injury is in some way, shape or form related to that. Stewart has missed a lot of time over his career so the injury shouldn’t be totally surprising.